Ex-China cold rolled coil (CRC) prices have remained relatively stable over the past week despite decreasing HRC futures prices and prevailing cautious sentiments among market players.
More specifically, ex-China CRC offer prices from mills have remained at $545-560/mt FOB this week, while the tradable levels for ex-China CRC have been heard at $540-545/mt FOB, basically remaining stable compared to last week.
During the given week, HRC futures prices have moved on a downward trend amid the slack demand from downstream users. In August, the supply of CRC declined, though remaining at a relatively high level, exerting a negative impact on prices. The decreasing raw material prices eased some of the pressure on CRC producers, while also weakening the support for CRC prices from the cost side. Though market players expect a better performance in September, actual transaction activities have been quiet so far.
Average domestic 1.0 mm cold rolled coil spot prices in China are at RMB 3,543/mt ($499/mt) ex-warehouse, decreasing by RMB 47/mt ($6.6/mt) week on week, according to SteelOrbis’ information.
As of September 3, HRC futures at Shanghai Futures Exchange are standing at RMB 3,299/mt ($474.6/mt), decreasing by RMB 50/mt ($7.0/mt) or 1.5 percent since August 27, while declining by 0.09 percent compared to the previous trading day, September 2.
$1 = RMB 7.1108